Identification

Title

Construction and uncertainty estimation of a satellite-derived total precipitable water data record over the world's oceans

Abstract

Measurements of total precipitable water (TPW) from 11 satellite-borne microwave imaging radiometers are intercalibrated and merged into a single gridded monthly data set starting in January 1988 and continuing to the present. The resulting data set shows a global mean, ocean-only trend in TPW of 0.436 kg/m(2) per decade (1.49% per decade), and a trend in the deep tropics (20 degrees S-20 degrees N) of 0.629 kg/m(2) per decade (1.503% per decade). The uncertainty in the merged TPW results is analyzed on multiple time and distance scales using a Monte Carlo approach. This analysis results in an uncertainty ensemble that can be used to evaluate the effects of construction uncertainty on any subsequent application of the data set. We compare the merged data set with measurements of TPW from ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System sensors on small islands. These comparisons show no systematic long-term drifts in the differences, and the observed differences were largely explained by our uncertainty analysis. As an example of the use of the uncertainty ensemble, we evaluate the increase in TPW over the Gulf of Mexico during summer months over 1988-2017.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d78d002n

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2018-05-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact